Appeal filed over conviction for killing Catholic college student

The teenager was charged with murdering 16-year-old Enere McLaren-Taana at the city’s bus hub in May last year.  

A jury acquitted the boy of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter, and he was later sentenced to three years and three months in prison.

The teenager was granted permanent name suppression, but Justice Robert Osborne refused the defence’s application not to enter a conviction despite acknowledging the teen might get deported.

The Court of Appeal confirmed challenges to the conviction and sentence had been filed, but it could not share the grounds of appeal.

No hearing date has been set for the appeal.

At the sentencing, Justice Osborne described the crime as “grave offending” and rejected the defendant’s explanation he was attempting to defend himself during the flashpoint last year. 

The judge acknowledged Enere McLaren-Taana’s family pain and grief after losing a “young man of great promise” who was loved.

After the sentencing, the victim’s father John McLaren told reporters that he was disappointed at the sentence and that his son’s killer could not be named.

FULL STORY

Teen appealing conviction over stabbing of of Enere McLaren-Taana | RNZ News (Radio New Zealand)

Dunedin teen jailed for 3 years and 3 months for bus stop stabbing of Enere McLaren-Taana | RNZ News (Radio New Zealand)

‘Nowhere near enough’: Bus hub victim’s dad slams killer’s sentence | Otago Daily Times Online News (Otago Daily Times)